The invention relates to a pull-out guide assembly for a drawer or the like, comprising a pull-out rail on each side of the drawer and a supporting rail on each side of a furniture body and load-transmitting slides or rollers which are mounted in a carriage on both sides of the drawer. In the longitudinal direction each supporting rail is divided into a stop member fastenable to a furniture side wall and a running member, and the running members being pivotally mounted on the stop members about vertical axles and acted upon by springs.
Pull-out guide assemblies of the afore-mentioned kind make extraction and insertion of the drawer into a furniture body as smooth as possible, and they hold the drawer in the furniture body when it has been partly extracted therefrom, in particular when the drawer has been pulled out from the furniture body over more than half its depth.
According to the known state of the art, pull-out guide assemblies of this kind are provided either with slides or rollers. Pull-out guide assemblies are also known in which the rollers are mounted in separate carriages.
A pull-out guide assembly for drawers is known from U.S. Pat. No. 526,509 in which the running members are pivotable about front verticle axles. The rear ends of the running members are acted upon by springs and pressed towards the drawer. In this arrangement, the drawer is practically clamped by the running members, and thus the friction between the drawer and the running members increases the further the drawer is pushed into the furniture body. When the drawer tilts sideways, its position will be corrected at least in the pushed-in position.
It may occur that a drawer which has been partly extracted from the furniture body remains in the extracted position. In particular in the case of sharp corners and edges, which are frequently found with drawer front plates, persons may bump against such projecting drawers and get injured to a varying degree. Furthermore, the drawer and/or the pull-out guide assembly might be damaged.
Pull-out guide assemblies with so-called run-in means are known in which a drawer which has been closed without care is automatically pulled into the furniture body.
Pull-out guide assemblies of this kind are not able, however, to fully solve the problem solved by the present invention since the run-in means become effective only in the final region of the push-in path of the drawer, which means the drawer has to be pushed at least substantially into its rear position to be drawn into the furniture body by the run-in means. In the case of a drawer which projects more than half of its depth from the furniture body, the run-in means generally remain ineffective. Particularly in the case of drawers projecting in this manner, the risk of injury is high.